Undiagnosed Diarrhea

My kitty, Sunny, is three years old and a few weeks ago he started having intermittent vomiting and diarrhea (soft formed stools with totally soft at the end of the bowel movement). I took him to the vet and they did blood work and examined his stool. The bloodwork was not totally remarkable. They found some concentration in blood cells and said that could be from being a little dehydrated. Also, it showed mild kidney issues, but that also could be because of the dehydration. They did not test for thyroid. This doctor is an endocrinology specialist and he didn't believe that Sunny showed any other signs of being hypothyroid. The stool suggested that there may have been a giardia issue, in the past. He could see some type of cells, which he said looked unusual, but they were there, but the test didn't show anything active (from the limited test they could do in the office). Also, they were not able to get any urine from him. 

Diagnosis: Nothing specific. The doc thought there could be pancreatitis (but blood work didn't indicate that), uti, maybe giardia or a blockage. 

Treatment:  They gave him Convenia (a whole other story here -- they didn't tell me that they were giving him this or warn me about the side effects) and they gave him Pancur. This was this past Friday (today is Wednesday). So, four days later, I have not seen any vomiting, but he still has diarrhea. Last night, I decided that I should put him on probiotics. Luckily, I have some Proviable DC (from the vet for my other cat). I gave Sunny the Proviable last night and this morning his stool was totally soft.

So, now, I am at a total loss. Is this diarrhea still from whatever has been going on with him, is it from the Convenia, or is it from the probiotic? Can cats get diarrhea from a probiotic?

Supposing that I want to continue a probiotic, which one is suggested? I did some research on this site before asking this question, but many of the threads are old (so not recent research or understanding of probiotics). Should I start one one probiotic and then switch to S. Boulardii? Should I start him on S. Boulardii? Should I not give him any at all???

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks,

Eileen

Maybe your veterinarian would know what he recommends for your kitty? I have my kitty on probiotics, but I have not had an issue with diarrhea. Now, that is not to say that it is not possible. I don't know. All I can do is send you Good Vibes for your kitty and hopefully the veterinarian will give you some good advice or someone wiser than myself on this site will.

Eileen,

After treatment I would think about doing a PCR test. It is thorough and checks for parasites etc. https://www.idexx.com/small-animal-...ces/reference-laboratories/realpcr-tests.html 

The IDEXX Canine and Feline Diarrhea RealPCR Panels allow you to screen for and accurately identify multiple infectious causes of diarrhea from only a single fecal specimen.

This PCR test could help target things or rule them out.

Has your cat been getting all of the panacur?

They only gave him one dose of the Panacur, when we were there.. because it wasn't a definite diagnosis and he didn't see active giardia. 

For the IDXXX test, is that something I do at home...take the sample and send it in? ...not through the vet??

Eileen,

You would need to get a sample and take it into the vet and they would get it out to the lab to perform the PCR test. It is very thorough and is the most encompassing. This is the one I personally would do under your circumstances.

Giardia is not always passed in every sample so doing an inhouse fecal exam can miss giardia. It can be because the cysts weren't passed or it could be due to operator error (just because they are difficult to find).

You could also have a Giardia ELISA and Fecal Zinc Sulfate Centrifugation flotation test done which shows the giardia cysts and also the antigens that the cat produces when giardia is present. But this is more narrow, the PCR will give much more information and is more reliable in my view. I use the PCR test and I find it very helpful in getting to the issue or ruling things out.

Someone else might be able to add to this but I am not sure that 1 dose of panacur will do much. Now I realize that he didn't see giardia but because of the potential for a false negative result from an inhouse test I would do a bit more robust test.

The symptoms you mention could suggest a lot of different things so ruling things out is a good idea. The PCR test would help in that regard I think as well as possibly highlighting an issue.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope this helps and your cat gets well soon.